umbradomina (umbradomina) wrote in commandhq, @ 2018-01-15 06:52:00 |
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Normally, Umbra would have a fierce advantage against just about anyone, but she had been set against Vasily Markov quite a few times and, for most of them, failed. She wondered if it was merely so that the old men in charge could remind her that she wasn't as untouchable as she thought. Then again, it could also be that they actually wanted to improve her techniques. Either way, it was rather annoying. Especially since she hated losing. Yes, she learned from each loss, but that didn't make her like it any more. The simulation itself was a simple one. Vasily had five minutes to prep and post his defense of a bright acid green flag. It was Nicolette's job to find a way to get to that flag and return to her starting point without being caught. Originally, they wanted her to do it without being detected, but that proved nearly impossible against him. Even if she moved perfectly and remained completely silent, he would still be able to detect her with his animal sense of smell. She pointed this out and, eventually, the game was changed. At least that way she might actually be able to achieve her goal once or twice. Losing every time tended to make you not want to play the game anymore. Today's version of "capture my flag" was set inside what looked like a rather large office building. That was a welcome change after the last two had been set in some medieval village that looked like something out of Lord of the Rings. Vasily had the best advantage with the wide open spaces and plenty of room for him to roam as whatever the fuck he chose to be. She hoped that, in this modern day space, she would actually have a leg up. There were lots of shadowy corners and darkened rooms. It would be easy for her to teleport around and use her powers. The real problem would be that she had no clue where he had set himself up. Nicolette started outside in the darkness of the simulated night. It was her job to get inside with as little commotion as possible and find the flag, but it would never be that simple. Knowing him, Vasily had the damn thing hidden at the bottom of the elevator shaft. Hell, the last time the fucker buried it and that, she insisted, was cheating. She scanned the building and made note of what lights had been turned on inside, wondering if he was hiding in the light or darkness. It was hard to really know what her foe would do simply because he seemed to treat the sim differently every time. She assumed that was why it was still such a hard thing for her to win. If it was never the same then she could never tackle the problem in the exact same way every time. There was more to learn from variety than repetition. Teleportation was an interesting experience. In the beginning, it was severely disorienting, but now it was merely second nature. The small woman slid up into a shadow behind a tree that lined the grounds of the building and disappeared. If you blinked, you would've missed it. She was right there and then there was nothing. The entire event was nearly instantaneous, as if stepping through a darkened doorway, but the feeling in that moment was still somewhat surprising. Her skin always felt chilled, like she'd moved through a freezer briefly, but her face felt flush. For anyone who hadn't traveled this way, it was hard to explain and understand. Umbra moved via teleportation several times before she was inside the building proper. She had learned early on that she had to spread herself around. It made her scent trail harder to acquire and follow. She moved several more times as she searched a handful of darkened rooms and tried to decide where to head next. |